The Pacific Foundation for Blind Children — the “PFBC” — began its service in 1995 as the “Washington School for the Blind Foundation”.
The Foundation has operated since 1995 with a singular mission to broaden and enhance educational and employment opportunities for persons who are blind or visually impaired.
The PFBC is a Washington non–profit corporation and is qualified as a charitable organization under §501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
The Foundation is governed by a volunteer board of directors. All Directors serve without compensation. An Executive Director is employed by the Foundation to serve its daily needs.
“Hello JaReda,
I truly appreciate your help. This… [scholarship] means a lot to me. I am directly going to use it to pay the remaining balance of my tuition for the spring term after receiving my money. Last year, when I received this scholarship, I bought my books and paid my tuition as well. I don't know how to express my gratitude. This scholarship has not only helped with my tuition but also gave me a lot of motivation and inspiration to excel in my classes. Thank you for considering my application and awarding me this scholarship. I am going to transfer to the University of Minnesota very soon, and I hope you will continue to help many other students who need financial assistance. My family and I will never forget this help in the future, and thank you so much!! I wish you all the best.
Sincerely,
Chantsaa”
The PFBC's goal is to help those who are blind or visually impaired find inspiration and achieve success. The Foundation looks for holes in the education and support systems for blind and visually impaired students that it can fill. It provides those who are blind or visually impaired with tools, skills and training to give them confidence that anything they choose to do is possible.
The most critical issues facing persons who are blind or visually impaired are literacy, educational achievement, independent living, rewarding employment, and access to technology. The challenge the PFBC has accepted since 1995 is to address each of these issues for every person who is blind or visually impaired that it can.
The scope of the challenge is daunting. About 1.1 million people in the United States are blind and each year 50,000 more will become blind. In Washington State alone there are about 2,000 blind or visiually impaired school–age children annually. These are the children the PFBC focused its resources on during its early years, and they remain an important part of the PFBC programs to this day. Some blind and visually impaired students attend the state–funded, Washington State School for the Blind where they receive tremendous education and life training. But, they do not stay at the School forever, and all students who are blind and visually impaired need to have the same opportunities to find good work and to further their educations that sighted students do.
If you have found this web site because you seeking some help, we hope you find what you are looking for in the pages that follow — and please feel free to contact the PFBC staff if you can't find what you are looking for so they can offer some help. If you found this website seeking to help the Foundation and its mission, thank you for your interest and support — and again, do not be shy about contacting the PFBC for whatever other information you need.
Thank you for visiting the PFBC! Check back with us again often.
“One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar.”
—Keller
